<p>It means you get a geographic diversity bump, which is pretty awesome for you.</p>
<p>This is a little off the point, but I remember Baptists in the church I attended as a child claiming that Catholics displayed crucifixes because they "leave Christ on the cross," and claiming that Baptists displayed crosses unadorned by the body of Christ because "we preach the resurrection". </p>
<p>Some schools drift away from their sectarian roots; Yale's Congregational origins are practically forgotten these days; "Methodist" isn't the first thing that comes to mind about Northwestern. By contrast, there are a number of colleges with close connections to conservative Protestant denominations that ask prospective students to make a declaration of faith, and require a letter of recommendation from each applicant's minister.</p>
<p>Catholic colleges and universities generally take a different approach, maintaining significant church ties while welcoming students and faculty from outside their faith tradition. It's a tough balance to strike, and it's not surprising to me that there are factions at these schools that would to see these ties either loosened, or tightened. My own inclination is to say to the two factions, "Peace be with you, and also with you."</p>
<p>But what do I know? I'm just a "liberal effete," educated at schools that were denounced by having founders who had the temerity to found non-sectarian schools. (Enough of this discussion -what are those frisky little monkeys getting up to now?)</p>
<p>It would appear that the crosses in question were recently added to classrooms without any notification of or discussion with the professors who teach in those classrooms. Since the Jesuit schools all talk a good line about how inclusive they are, coming back after the break and finding that someone has hung a prominent crucifix in the classroom where you work all day without informing you if you are a Muslim or a Jew (the apparent affiliation of the quoted individuals) might seem like a bit of a slap in the face.</p>
<p>Lots of good non-Catholic students are interested in Georgetown and BC, and are always assured that it doesn't matter if you aren't Catholic, the Jesuits have an open intellectual tradition, etc. Some of them may rethink if they hear about this. Nevertheless, I think that anyone who goes to or teaches at a Catholic or evangelical protestant school has to expect this kind of thing, and it is obviously their right to do so.</p>
<p>What's more the issue here is that some professors [who refuse to go on the record with the media] are announcing that they will resign, or won't teach in those classrooms, is ridiculous. If you are a professor at a Catholic college and want to keep your paycheck, you might want to teach in any classroom they give you. Totally putzes. Oye.</p>
<p>[ps: and most Catholics I know [including our parish priest] are not anti-gay. Basic human rights are a hallmark of the faith. While many Catholics would refuse to admit it, we kind of like the WWJD philosophy, and who was it that Jesus hung around with anyway?]</p>
<p>Look, it's quite simple. If you don't want to see crosses hung all over the place on a college campus, don't go to a place like BC. What else would you expect? I will say that I'm glad that someone posted this article. It is important for non-catholic/christian applicants to see what is going on. They know where they stand before matriculation and can make an important decision based on current events.</p>
<p>Rutgers>BC</p>
<p>I would be willing to bet that 1/3 of the applicants to BC aren't even aware that it is a Catholic college because its name gives no hint and many many people get it and Boston University mixed up. Holy Cross, on the other hand, (which is run by the exact same New England Province of Jesuits as BC) is very clearly religious due to its name and I'm sure also displays crosses in the classrooms ;-></p>